APPLETON – While a judge will determine Monday whether to delay Dianna Siveny's trial in the death of Lara Plamann — or possibly dismiss the charges — the state's lead witness now claims her confession was coerced and should be excluded from her own trial.

Rosie O. Campbell, 39, of Minnesota, is accused of conspiring with Siveny and her daughter Kandi Siveny to kill the 30-year-old, who was found shot to death in a shed near the Greenville home she shared with Dianna Siveny on Oct. 18, 2007.

Last year, prosecutors charged the three women with first-degree intentional homicide after Campbell told detectives she agreed to shoot Plamann, but backed out and allowed Kandi Siveny to carry out the killing.

On Thursday, Outagamie County District Attorney Carrie Schneider sought to delay Dianna Siveny's jury trial, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 25 in Judge Nancy Krueger's courtroom. No such motion has been filed for Kandi Siveny, whose trial is still set for Sept. 29.

D. Siveny(Photo: D. Siveny)

K. Siveny(Photo: K. Siveny AP)

Schneider said she learned July 24 that Campbell would not testify against Dianna and Kandi Siveny. Campbell plans to assert her constitutional right to remain silent, even if she is offered immunity from prosecution, attorneys said.

"The testimony of Rosie Campbell is an important component and necessity in the prosecution of this defendant," Schneider said in her request.

Schneider said if the judge declines to delay the trial, she will ask for charges to be dismissed without prejudice, leaving open the option to re-file charges at a later date.

Meanwhile, Campbell requested a speedy trial on July 24 and asked the judge to throw out her confession, claiming police illegally detained her and coerced her statements. On Friday, her trial was rescheduled to begin Oct. 20, which will fall just within the required 90-day speedy trial allowance.

Assistant State Public Defender Brandt Swardanski said his client's statements were "the product of coercion and overbearing inquisition techniques and were not made voluntarily." While he said Outagamie County Sheriff's Department detectives read a Miranda warning before Campbell's Feb. 14, 2013, interview, her inability to comprehend it meant her rights were still violated.

Questionable accuracy

Attorneys for the three defendants previously asked that Campbell undergo a psychological evaluation, which took place on April 19. The psychologist found Campbell "lacks sufficient understanding of her right to silence and is extremely susceptible to shifting her response under minimal pressure from the interrogator," according to court records.

The psychological tests evaluated Campbell's IQ, mental state and understanding of her Miranda rights. The doctor also reviewed a taped interview between Campbell and her ex-boyfriend, the recorded police interrogation, the criminal complaint, Department of Correction records, and Campbell's hospital and school records.

The findings paint a picture of a woman troubled by mental disorders and a difficult, abusive past.

The report indicated that Campbell has been hospitalized multiple times and diagnosed with bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression and personality disorders. During the evaluation, Campbell said she suffers from auditory and visual disturbances, including hearing voices and seeing shadowy figures.

Four tests were administered to evaluate Campbell's ability to understand her constitutional rights. While Campbell had perfect scores when it came to understanding the nature of an interrogation and her right to an attorney, she was unable to grasp the significance of her right to remain silent, the report stated. The psychologist rated her comprehension of Miranda rights in the 37th percentile of average adults.

Campbell was also easily swayed from her initial recollection of events when subjected to negative feedback from the interviewer, the report stated. When told she made errors in her retelling of a story — even if there were, in fact, none — Campbell drastically changed her account.

"Personality characteristics may have made her particularly vulnerable to inappropriate interrogation tactics," Dr. David Thompson said in his report. "There are numerous factors present that raise questions about the accuracy of her statements."

New statements contradict confession

Campbell's statements during the evaluation are in stark contrast to the confession that was detailed by authorities in the criminal complaint.

Campbell, who was reportedly cooperative and at ease during the evaluation, said she met Kandi Siveny in 2005 and smoked methamphetamine with the woman. Campbell said early in their friendship, she was riding with Kandi Siveny on drug deliveries when she discovered a gun in the woman's glove compartment.

It was at that point she removed the bullet she would later give to police, Campbell said during the evaluation. The statement contradicts the account investigators give in the criminal complaint, in which Campbell said she took the bullet after Plamann's death. Police said the bullet was consistent with the size and caliber of the bullet recovered during Plamann's autopsy.

Campbell says now she took the bullet even before she joined Kandi Siveny on a trip to Appleton to damage Plamann's vehicle, an event prosecutors say took place Aug. 22, 2007 — two months before Plamann's death.

Campbell said she was under the influence of crack cocaine during her police interview and thought a chicken dinner detectives purchased for her was a sign of friendship. She said she believed if she confessed to seeing Kandi Siveny shoot Plamann, police would release her.

"They were my friends. ... I wanted to help them," Campbell told the psychologist. "I said what they wanted me to say."

In his report, Thompson said Campbell's confession might be the product of detectives presenting her with false evidence and offering her inducements.

He quoted portions of the recorded interrogation where police suggest Campbell suppressed her memories of the event and appeared to ask leading questions about the shed where Plamann was shot.

In the criminal complaint, police say Campbell provided details about the shooting and the shed that were consistent with evidence found at the scene. Police discovered Plamann's body in her shed, the day after Dianna Siveny reported her missing.

Going forward

Campbell's refusal to testify against the Sivenys is the latest blow to a case that had become mired with procedural issues.

In May, Krueger chastised the district attorney's office for delays in producing evidence to the Sivenys' attorneys. Just before ordering the Sivenys' release from jail until their trials, the judge warned that any further delays could have dire consequences.

"If evidence trickles in after (a June hearing) that would result in another delay, that is not in the interest of justice," Krueger said May 13. "If anything else is discovered beyond that date, the court may have no alternative but to find the discovery violations are so disturbing that it requires dismissal of the case."

Despite the judge's statements, Schneider said special circumstances can merit a delay, even after demands for speedy trials. In her motion filed last week, Schneider cites a 2014 Wisconsin case where a state witness was hospitalized, causing an unexpected delay.

The judge also took issue with the way Outagamie County Sheriff investigators handled the case. While Krueger denied a motion to dismiss the case due to unrecorded payments to and contact with witnesses, she said the lack of accountability was problematic.

The two lead investigators — who interviewed Campbell — were required to submit additional records accounting for previously undisclosed witness contact.

The sheriff's department maintains the case was handled properly and nothing significant was given to witnesses without appropriate documentation or used to influence them.

The validity of Campbell's confession will be decided at a Sept. 22 hearing, one month before her trial is set to begin. Campbell remains in custody, but she has asked the judge to modify her $1 million bond.

Following Judge Dee Dyer's Aug. 1 retirement, defense attorneys have requested a new judicial assignment for Campbell's case. That decision has yet to be made.